Gathering Mushrooms
by Nyirria
Summary: "Yours is supposed to represent the Sun and the reducing twilight. "And mine the dark skies with the moon as its only illumination. "Without each other, there would be no peace or prosperity." Pairing if you look closely.


Disclaimer : I do not own the Elder Scrolls franchise, I only own my OC; Kerin.

* * *

"What _are_ you doing?"

Onmund stood in front of the elf, an eyebrow quizzically raised as he watched Kerin harvest and drop all sorts of fungi into an empty satchel. Those could be as poisonous as the bite of the largest frostbite spider, or a chaurus that lives deep in those caves were the Falmer dwell.

He was just concerned as a friend, of course, nothing more, nothing less.

"What does it look like?" Kerin asked him, looking at him for a brief moment before turning his attention back to plucking the abundance of shrooms in his crouched reach.

"You're picking up your own indecent death through deadly plants," Onmund said, folding his arms across his chest.

Kerin stared at him with disinterest and rolled his eyes, "I make my own potions and poisons, Onmund. I need to go out and get my own ingredients, because I don't like paying shite for overpriced materials."

The Nord mage narrowed his eyes at the shorter male, trying to decipher how that complex mind worked. It was entirely intelligent and quick, but confusing to be studied by outsiders.

"I love Arcadia, Elgrim, Bothela, Lami, Frida, and Vivienne with all my soul, but their goods are expensive, so why pay over three-hundred gold for a single potion, when you can generously harvest from Skyrim's resource farms and make it yourself?"

The standing male looked away, as if contemplating his answer.

"Besides, it's nice to have some fresh air… without the stench of fresh blood overpowering the natural mountain breeze. Combat gives you exciting adrenaline, but the aftermath of the bloodshed is horrid."

Kerin gestured, waving his hand in front of his nose. "Fighters need breaks as well."

Onmund gave him a few minutes to clean one bundle of those caps, but he couldn't help but be concerned for the younger elf. The two had grown quite close since Kerin joined the College, and the elf had a small habit of getting a little reckless. Just a little.

"But you _do_ at least know those have gases, right Kerin? By the Gods, the effects they have on the body…" Onmund trailed off, but his eyes stayed put on the still busy male and the mushrooms.

Said male sighed with little annoyance, then held his arms out for Onmund to see. "Do you know I have gloves on? Surely you've noticed these, right?" He wiggled his fingers at him. "They aren't supposed to be invisible, they're supposed to protect the wearer."

Onmund blushed, and laughed lightly, and Kerin chuckled too, letting his hands fall to his sides. "And I'm wearing this laurel circlet that I made to protect me from poisons and diseases. It gives me the upper hand in such situations."

The apprentice walked over to the elf and squatted down to meet Kerin's seated position. "Well then, what can I do to help?"

The Dovahkiin grinned and handed him an empty, leather satchel.

"Help me pick up some of these juniper berries, would you? I'm running out and I need them for a fire weakness potion… and I'm making a treat for you, this coming seventh of Last Seed."

The seventh of Last Seed. The seventh. A very specific day on the month of Last Seed. Ordinary? Yes. Festival? No. Special? To both mages? _Absolutely_.

Kerin was smiling softly to himself and Onmund paused to look at him with slightly surprised eyes. "You remembered?"

The elf looked up at him with his juniper eyes, as if those orbs were made of the real berry itself. "Yes, I did, why wouldn't I? We're great friends after all."

Onmund grinned broadly, nearly leaping over to Kerin, pulling him up into a bone-crushing hug. "You actually remembered my birthday! Thank you," he said, whispering the last two words of gratitude.

"I'm really happy," he continued, ruffling Kerin's dark brown hair as he hugged him.

The brunette sighed and patted Onmund's back, smiling as he accomplished bringing happiness to the Nord who went against his parents' wish for his future.

Who would want to be a farmer or hunter over a mage anyway?

Onmund let him go and stepped back a bit, once he noticed the immense proximity they had from the embrace. The giddy Nord smiled wide as he started picking the most juiciest of berries from the low tree, he probably looked like an idiot, but he sure didn't feel like one.

Kerin seemed to be unaffected by there closeness, which Onmund was relieved of, very much so, as he knelt back down to pick up the wild mountain flowers around the area. _At least with these, Onmund wouldn't need to get his knickers in a twist if I got poisoned._

The two were silent, the only sound was the plucking of ingredients, and the very soft drop of the material into the leather satchel. Given to them by the College, it was, necessary for alchemy class, they said.

Onmund looked away from his berry-picking and down at Kerin, who had a little twinkle in his eyes that he hadn't seen when they first got here. His gaze drifted down, down until it reached the small glow of the light blue necklace around the other's neck.

The necklace only glowed when the other half, the twin, was in its vicinity. The other half, was glowing a yellow orange, which was around Onmund's own neck._ I remember…_

• _3rd of Evening Star, 4E 201 _•

_"Here, take this and wear it around your neck at all times."_

_Kerin stepped up to Onmund, outstretching his hands which held an amulet that had a charm that was shaped to be a sunset. Onmund looked at him with uncertainty._

_"What's this for? Good luck?" he asked, the last bit a little sarcastic._

_The elf glared at him for a moment then jerked his hands towards the taller Nord. "It's for protection like any other amulet. This is supposed to help you survive when it's near it's other half."_

_The mage took it reluctantly and held it in his hand, twirling it in his fingers before placing it around his neck. The charm started glowing a light, orangish yellow._

_Onmund's eyes widened with surprise and looked back at the smirking Ashen. "And where would this other half be?"_

_Kerin smiled softly, his hand going underneath the front of his robe, hooking the necklace that was hidden and revealing it to the Nord in front of him. "I'm wearing it."_

_The younger mage stepped closer and their charms glowed with more fervor, emitting a gentle glow that would be easily seen in the dark._

_"Yours is supposed to represent the Sun and the reducing twilight," Kerin said, looking up at Onmund, who was baffled by the advanced arcane skill needed for these to work._

_"And mine the dark skies with the moon as its only illumination," he explained, and Onmund examined Kerin's, which was giving off a blueish light._

_"Without each other, there would be no peace or prosperity."_

_Onmund looked up into those juniper eyes, which were sparkling with excitement and merriment, just like their twin pendants. Kerin clapped happily now that Onmund was wearing his other half, and placed his left hand in the hilt of his sheathed blade._

_"Now come on, I need your help," Kerin said, smiling once more back at the Nord mage before swiftly turning around and striding off, out of the Hall of Attainment._

_Onmund thought about what the short elf had said, and blinked a few times._

_Without each other, there would be no peace or prosperity…_

• _End_ •

Onmund smiled that goofy smile he would usually never wear, and looked away from Kerin. That little, idiotic smile always came out when Kerin had done something for him that stirred butterflies inside the pit of his stomach.

He never knew how—or why—Kerin always seemed to be able to do so, every time.

But he would cherish it, relish it as the wonderful, frivolous feeling lasted.

Though, the only difference this time, was that after gathering mushrooms, the wondrous feeling never faded away.

* * *

Author's Note : Hello reader—if you stayed interested enough to reach the end that is—, this is my first fanfic for the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim specifically.

This was just a small one-shot I came up with when looking around the interwebz for small, tiny writing prompts. Which came to be: _gathering mushrooms_ & _necklace_. I would really appreciate it if you could give be a review right below, because I really need that constructive criticism. Heh.

Anyway, I will only be doing simple one-shots until I think I'm well enough to start small with short series'. Thank you for reading, or skimming at the very least. Cheerio!


End file.
